Longford House, our latest affordable housing development at Regent’s Place, proves that low cost doesn’t need to mean losing out on quality. It just means that everyone needs to think harder and work together in partnership.
Matthew Lloyd Architects did a fantastic job of designing a contemporary residential building that’s architecturally stunning. Traditional handmade bricks blend seamlessly into their surroundings, while there’s been a real attention to detail, such as the use of white ceramic linings to inset terraces and bronze anodised ironwork. The apartments are generous in size and have everything you’d expect from a top end central London apartment; each has its own private outdoor space, high quality fixtures and access to the shared rooftop terrace.
Truly affordable homes
On some schemes, ‘affordable’ means 80% of market rent, which isn’t affordable for many people in Central London. Through our long relationship with Camden Council, we know how keen they are to deliver real affordable housing for Londoners. So we worked closely with their team and our partners to develop plans that fulfil both our commercial offer and the need for truly affordable homes.
Of the 22 apartments, 16 are social rent for people on the lowest incomes, and six are intermediate, aimed at key workers. Longford House continues our long history of creating quality affordable housing at Regent’s Place.
Inclusive, mixed use places
Getting the right mix of uses is key to inclusive places, bringing diversity and balance. The new affordable housing at Regent’s Place is part of a wider planning consent that includes a major office refurbishment, retail and leisure spaces and our first dedicated affordable workspace development.
Our mix of uses at Regent’s Place – workspace, residential, retail and leisure – means the campus comes alive in different ways at different times, seven days a week. In normal times, thousands of office workers frequent the public spaces from Monday to Friday, while residents from the neighbouring Regent’s Park estate adopt the main plaza as their outdoor space at weekends, and people visiting or working at University College London Hospital across the road come throughout the week.
There’s also the fantastic New Diorama Theatre that we built in 2007, which punches way above its weight, attracting critical acclaim for its productions and generating footfall from evening visitors, long after the office workers have gone home. The theatre team also does amazing outreach into the community, which enhances Regent’s Place’s connection with our residential neighbours and local schools.
Power of partnership
It’s easy to set out an ambition for high quality design at the briefing stage, when everything is on paper. But delivering a completed product in line with the original intent is far more difficult, as projects evolve over years and involve large design and construction teams.
At Longford House, the power of partnership came into its own. Our contractor, Murphy, bought into our vision of quality from the start and didn’t let the stop-start impact of Covid derail them from producing a first class product. Our project managers, M3, were like the glue connecting all the team members, while keeping a close eye on quality control.
As the building reaches practical completion, we look forward to welcoming Newlon Housing Trust as partners, alongside Origin Housing, who run the existing affordable housing on the campus. Newlon have a great track record in Camden and impressed us in their pitch to acquire the long leasehold interest. For us, this wasn’t just about the financial offer, it was about their potential as long term partners and knowing they’ll maintain the apartments to the same high standards with which we care for our buildings.
“Right from the start, it’s been an absolute pleasure and joy to work with this project team. In the face of challenges, in particular the pandemic, everyone stayed focused and purposeful, looking after each and collaborating for the greater good. Huge thanks to our partners for their total commitment to our mission to create Places People Prefer.”
Find out more about Regent’s Place